Chapter 9

Nicole and Alex walk out the study when theh realise there isn't a danger. Nicole looks down to the woman standing by the door. She was quite slender and beautiful and had an aura of elegance around her.

"Um, Dante? who's your guest?" Nicole asked climbing down the stairs. Dante turned when he heard Nicole's voice and closed his eyes in agony and his hands on his hips. Before Dante could reply, a sweet voice intervened,

"I'm Countess Cleo, wife of Dracula." The lady said.

"I don't go by that name anymore Cleo." Dante warned and turned back to face her.

"Mmm. So I heard. Dante? Is it?" Cleo confirmed and walked past Dante towards Nicole, "And you are?"

"I'm Nicole. A...friend of Dante's." Nicole replied feeling a bit uneasy under Cleo's gaze.

"What are you doing here?" Dante asked, breaking the awkward silence.

"Visiting my husband of course." Cleo replied sweetly, "I did so miss him." Cleo moves forward to give Dante a kiss but Dante gently pushes her away with a sigh.

"I told you I didn't want to see you again." Dante said his eyes on Cleo.

"I know, but it's been nearly 700 years and I thought to myself, 'Drac can't hold a grudge for that long can he? Not the Dracula I know'" Cleo smiled innocently.

"The Dracula you know, is gone." Dante replies.

"No he's not," Cleo said taking a steo towards Dante, literally centimeters away from him, Cleo began walking her fingers up Dante's chest, "No, my Dracula is inside somewhere." Dante catches Cleo's hand and takes a step back from her. Cleo tiltes her head to the side with a satisfied grin.

"I'm gonna go," Nicole suddenly says before turning around to fetch her bag from the study, not waiting for a reply. Nicole reached the study and found her bag near the table against the wall where a photo frame of Dante and Alex stood. Nicole picked up her bag with a sigh which turned into shaky breathing until finally a tear rolled down her cheek. Nicole covered her mouth so as not to be heard and tried to compose herself.

Of course a thousand year old being would have a wife. Who was she kidding? Did she really expect that Dante spent his entire life by himself? But that wasn't the worst part, the worst part was that Cleo was just like Dante: a vampire. Except Dante doesn't wear a ring, does that still mean they are  together together? He did say he didn't want to see Cleo ever again. Nicole was just confused and needed time to figure out if it really mattered to her. If he really mattered to her.

"Don't let it get to your head," A voice behind Nicole startled her, Nicole turned to see Victor standing there, "Cleo is a reminder of a past Dante wants to regret. She doesn't mean anything to him."

"Doesn't matter. Why would I care?" Nicole replies coldly.

"Don't you?" Questioned Victor. He smiled when Nicole looked down to her feet, "Come on." Victor smiled, "I'll take you home. Cleo isn't showing any sign if leaving and Dante doesn't trust her enough to leave her alone in his house." Nicole nodded and was about to head out the door but Victor stopped her, "You know there is a more fun and faster way to get home." Nicole looked up at Victor confused. Victor smiled and twirled his hand in front of him, creating a black cloud of smoke, "Shall we?" Victor asked holding his arm out for Nicole to take.

Inside the cloud of smoke, a dark realm greeted Nicole. Black wisps swirled in intricate patterns across the open space and an eerie sound filled the air, kind of like the sound you might hear in an alien movie. Nicole felt her fingers tingle and the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

"What is this place?" Nicole asked as she and Victor took small steps across the black surface.

"This is limbo, the space between realms, the very matter that connects it all. A realm of darkness and yet light, peace yet chaos, death yet life." Victor answered.

"Can anyone access Limbo?" Nicole asked looking up at Victor.

"Nah, only creatures of darkness like myself and Dante." Victor sighed, "We truly are cursed, arent we?" After a moment of silence, Nicole finally spoke,

"I know I'm probably poking where I shouldn't, but, how did you become like this?" Nicole asked cautiously. One wrong word and Victor could decide to leave her in this strange and unbelievable place. Victor sighed again and came to a stop. That did it, Nicole was about to be trapped here forever. Nicole wondered if Dante would be able to find her if he knew she was here. But how would he know? Victor could always say that he dropped her off at home and that was the last he saw of her.

"You know, I can hear your thoughts." Victor stated. Nicole looked up at him apologetically making Victor smile, "I would never leave you here, dont worry. Dante would kill me if he ever found out and an angry Dante is a Dante I would like to avoid."

"Why's that?"

Victor chuckled, "When I was four I was abandoned by my parents in a place of complete darkness. I was all alone, so darkness became my friend, my parent and my teacher. At my young age, I learned to control the darkness around me and manipulate it, bend it to my will, allowing me to do the things I can do. The black clouds I summon, is me. My dark side, my curse. Makes me wonder if that is how my soul looks like: dark and cold. Being the creature that I am, I can never age, never love or be loved. Its quite tragic if you think about it, but its who I am and I've come to accept that." Victor looks over at a quiet Nicole. "But I have purpose," Victor continued, "I'm the only creature able of controlling Dante when he loses control over himself."

"Is that why you want to avoid Angry-Dante?" Nicole asked with a small smile.

"Yes, Angry-Dante can be quite scary."

"What happened? To Angry-Dante, I mean."

"I'm not sure if its my place to tell you." Victor answered with a frown.

Nicole clicked her tongue and said, "He sure knows how to keep a lady waiting."

"One of his specialties." Victor joked with a smile which Nicole returned, "Come on then. Spending too much time in this place cannot be good for a human."

"It is peaceful though." Nicole said as the two walked on further. Victor confirmed with an Mmm.